A 'Gay Lobby' at the Vatican? One Cardinal Says It's Real, and Pope Francis is Responding

The influential Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga has acknowledged the presence of a "gay lobby" in the Vatican. In a new interview, he says that Pope Francis has adopted a gradual approach to address it - and that Catholic teaching won't change.

The Honduran newspaper El Heraldo asked the cardinal whether there actually was an attempted or successful "infiltration of the gay community in the Vatican."

Cardinal Maradiaga responded: "Not only that, also the Pope said: there was even a 'lobby' in this sense."

"Little by little the Pope is trying to purify it," he continued. "One can understand them, and there is pastoral legislation to attend to them, but what is wrong cannot be truth."

Cardinal Maradiaga is the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Nicaragua and the coordinator of the Council of Cardinals who advise Pope Francis on the reform of the Curia.

HIs interview, published Jan. 12, also touched on some perceptions about Pope Francis.

The newspaper said some people have interpreted Pope Francis' other remarks to think there was a possibility the Church would support same-sex marriage.